“Level 27 is another underwater level?” I suggested.

“I’m not so sure, Master.” Miki pointed to the ceiling, which stretched more than ten feet above the waterline. “There appears to be room for a boat. If I guessed, the trip underwater would probably be very perilous, while the boat ride would be much easier.”

“If that is the case, then wouldn’t that make the boat ride the temptation?” I offered, thinking with my brow scrunched up. “And if the boat ride is the temptation, then doing it would assuredly have some kind of setback. Unless, the rewards at the bottom are the temptation, in which case…”

I realized I had landed into a conundrum. The dungeon wasn’t very clear and cut. I couldn’t say whether I should brave the bottom of the sea or skim over the top. Either one could be considered a temptation, and thus could also include a trap. At this point, the dungeon did provide an actual threat to our lives. We had lucked out passing the labyrinth, but we didn’t know how powerful the enemy was now.

In fact, if we avoided the underwater enemies in this level, then it could be that we would be completely blown away by the enemies on the next level. Perhaps that was the trap here. You were lulled into a sense of comfort, spending days wandering and sailing around before finally encountering something dangerous.

“Ah!” I gave a cry, causing the girls to jump. “The more I think about it, the more insidious dungeons can be. There is just no predicting them. You know they’re trying to kill you, but you never know exactly how they’re trying to kill you. It’s maddening!”

“That’s the way of curses, Master…” Lydia hugged me, her soft chest pressing against me and calming me down a bit.

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“So, what do we do?” I asked. “Do we go over the water, or into the water?”

Lydia suddenly pulled away and didn’t meet my eyes. “Th-that’s Master’s decision.”

“What? Aren’t we all a party? I really need input here!” I glance at the other girls, who all look away too.

“W-we’re slaves.” Miki coughs. “We will trust Master’s decision, as is proper.”

“Now you’re all being proper! You won’t hesitate to bully me in bed, but when it’s a life or death decision, suddenly you girls are silent?”

“It’s just, Master’s decisions are always just!” Miki argued.

“What about when I say I want some alone time and I don’t want to snuggle in bed with all of you?”

“Well, then Master is making a bad decision, and we must correct him!” She responded smoothly.

“Y-you…”

As we were arguing, Celeste pulled a fish we had captured, preserved, and stored in one of the storage rings. It was from one of the higher levels but still felt as fresh as if we just caught it. She casually walked to the edge of the water and tossed the fish into the water. Immediately the water exploded with bubbles and hundreds of tiny fish that looked to be more teeth than body attacked it.

The conversation ended as we watched a two-foot-long fish monster be devoured in a few moments, and then tossed out. The bones land a few meters from our feet. Celeste glanced over at us with an innocent smile on her face.

“Master, I think we should use a boat!”

“Ah… yeah…”

These fish were too plentiful. I realized now that I couldn’t see the fish with Sense Life because the fish were everywhere. Sense life identifies centralized lifeforce, but these small fish were so plentiful that the entire place was carpeted with a light pink color. I only realized it now that I carefully compared the area on land with the rest of the water.

I opened a portal, and the group left the dungeon to return to Chalm. After Celeste floated through, Shao turned to me.

“I still can’t figure it out.”

“What?”

“Is Celeste really dumb… or really smart?”

“…”

That really was one of life’s mysteries.